Spooky Booze: 5 Creepy Cocktails To Get You In The Halloween Spirit

Ahh, October: the time of year when we head to Frankel's/ Party Boy/ Stripper Depot to find our Halloween costumes, fat orange gourds sit outside at Kroger baking in the Houston sun, and every awful (by awful, I mean awesome) '80s horror movie is on AMC. I love everything about Halloween -- falling temperatures, colossal bags of candy, haunted houses, ghost stories, kitschy decorations, fog machines, pets in ridiculous costumes and mixing up tasty, horror-flick inspired libations.

If you're also a fan of the latter and have been searching for a few inventive, thriller-themed cocktails to serve up at your Halloween bash this year, look no further. We've assembled some of our favorite frightfully delicious cocktail recipes because we'll use any excuse to drink something green with plastic spiders floating in it.

Combine in an ice-filled shaker, shake well and strain into a chilled martini glass.

Black vodka is definitely what's been missing in my life. This whole time I've been drinking boring old clear vodka when I could have been making black vodka sodas? Have I been living under a rock? I just called Spec's downtown on Smith and they have Blavod in stock! I just wonder if it stains your teeth...

Pour ingredients into a shaker half full with crushed ice, shake and pour, without straining, into a rocks glass.

The Shining is, hands down, one of the best horror movies. I would give anything to have a drink at the Overlook Hotel bar. There's a scene when Jack wanders into the coolest-looking "ghost party" and bumps into Mr. Grady carrying a tray of drinks, which spills. "I'm afraid it's Advocaat so it tends to stain," Grady says. While cleaning up in the restroom, Jack says, "I'll just set my Bourbon and Advocaat down... right there." And The Jack Torrance cocktail was conceived.

Rim the glass with red sugar (use food coloring) or drop in a set of wax vampire teeth for decoration. Pour vodka and half of the Chambord in a martini glass. Top with Champagne. Pour the remaining Chambord over the back of a spoon to make it float.

Not only appropriate for Halloween, but also for...another...(ahem) occasion...in November...

This one takes a little patience: Chill vodka for better smoothness. Add vodka and lime juice to a shaker, shake and strain into a shot glass. Using a straw, dip some Bailey's Irish Cream into the shot. Once you submerge the straw into the Bailey's put your finger on top of the straw to hold the Bailey's in the straw. Dip the straw tip into the vodka and slowly release your top finger. The Bailey's will curdle a little bit due to the lime juice, and you should be able to make strands of Bailey's. Repeat the straw/Bailey's process to build a "brain" in the shot glass. Add a splash of grenadine to the concoction to add the "blood" to the mix.

I don't know how many points this shot gets for taste (if you like curdled Irish cream this is right up your alley) but it gets 10 points for effect. It just looks gross.

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a service glass.

Only spooky in name, the Corpse Reviver is a classic cocktail created during a magical time in history when it was perfectly okay to booze it up in the a.m. Yes, It's a breakfast beverage. Sort of like "hair of the dog," it's meant to reawaken you after a long night of drinking....so you can, you know, keep drinking. You might want to save this one for the morning after your Halloween party.

Tips:

* Presentation is key. Putting a spooky spin on an ordinary-looking drink is as simple as adding props for gory garnish like vampire teeth, candy eyeballs, plastic severed fingers or gummy worms. Remember to wash all props before putting them into a drink.

* Think outside the box pitcher. If you're making punch or a larger quantity of a cocktail, serve it in a beverage dispenser like the IV mock-up that can be found at Spirit shops for $20. If you're the beer-bonging type, check out the skull beer funnel for $13. Because it's fun to pour PBR into a plastic skull before it's funneled into your own skull.

* The quinine in tonic water makes it fluorescent. Use it as a mixer and watch your cocktails glow under a black light for an eerie effect.

Will you give any of these creepy cocktails a try, or do you have a recipe you'd like to share? Let us know in the comments section.

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